Thank you so much for the responses. Sorry, I didn't reply sooner. antss - I'll check out the Kohler. Thanks for the heads up. mongoct - thanks for the detailed reply. I really appreciate the time you took. I agree that it doesn't look like we have much storage in the bathroom. However, the closet near the shower is 8 1/2 feet long and the other one is a little over 13 feet. Rather than add another door for a linen closet in the bathroom, we decided we would just have shelving in one of the closets for the excess linens. I think it will work for us given all that space & the fact that we have additional storage for off-season clothing. Yup, already got "beaten up" about the 2' doors on the new home forum (reposted there since I wasn't getting nibbles here & that is more my "home".) Anyway, I thought it was OK since we have a 2' door in our current powder room. Upon reflection, I think we will increase those to 2'4" to avoid banging knuckles when carrying a laundry basket. The WC compartment in our current master bath is 2'8"x5'2" with an in-swinging door which is on the side. I don't know if code is different in TX or the spec builder just got away with it. These plans were drawn up by an SC designer to build in SC. I'll ping the builder about code so we don't have any surprises. I was more than beaten up about this on the other forum with claims that 3 feet wide was absolutely insufficient to exist in. We must just be weird because our current room is fine & this is a touch bigger. We have used our WC room as a "mockup" & measured where the door would swing on the new one. Well, you have me there about the open door. ;^) Like I said, we're weird. I know that I won't be seeing much when its steaming, I was more interested in the sense of light I would get when sitting there. I want to maximize that. The steam shower is mostly for me (& our future septic tank). I take very long showers because I just stand there daydreaming & thinking. We had the idea that if I could sit in the shower surrounded by steam, I wouldn't go through so much water. I do think the seat is a problem. I couldn't get the designer to put in a bench deeper the 12", so I finally gave up & asked for a corner seat. Its seems like a bench should be between 15"-18" deep & long enough so I could lean against a wall & stretch my legs out along it. (I'm only 5'2" so that's not much length.) Do you have suggestions about height, length, depth & which wall to put it along? I've never had a rainshower experience so I don't really know what I want. In our current shower, we replaced the fixed showerhead with a Waterpik, so that is the extent of my direct experience with shower fixture technology. Pretty sad, right? I know we have to have a handshower, but that can also be what we use for general washing, right? I'd like body jets to be able to direct to parts that get sore (my shoulder & DH's elbow). I think if we are going to have a rainshower is should be the real deal as you described it. I was looking at Moen because that is what the plumbing supply house quoted as the basis for our builder's bid, but we're not limited to Moen. Also, our builder has no issue with us providing fixtures & our allowance will be credited. Since I have the quote sheet, I know that the builder's discount brings us in line with what we could get off the internet, so I have no problem going with the supplier for most things. I agree that the Moen system looks like a mess, but DH is leery about the digital alternative which is much sleeker. (And, we're both EE's; go figger.) Thank you so much for the advice about the Hansgrohe. I think that is exactly what I need. I did a quick look online & the (cheapest) trim kit + rough-in is ~$350. I read through the installation manual so I can start thinking about what fixture I want to go to which port. I assume that I can get whatever fixtures I want to work with the Hansgrohe, right? Again, I really welcome the advice & I understand what you were saying about the doors. I will quiz the builder on the WC room swing & code. Thanks - Jo Ann

2.5 gpm is the max at this time. Low flow shower heads go down to 1.5. I find 2.5 to be fine. At 1.5, depending upon the shower head I wonder if I will ever get wet. Get a bucket and a watch and time the flow rate. I just roughed in a new tub shower valve at my house, It was a Kohler and had a restrictor in the body of the valve and then there is typically one in the shower head itself. Pull the shower head and look for the disc. Either drill it out or remove it.

"Then if go to the webpage specifically for the showerhead ( T14294 ) it says 1.75gpm." Don't do that. Just look at the spec sheet linked to the Delta DSS-Linden-1401 web page. If you look at that spec sheet, you'll see that both the hand shower and the shower head (see the graph) have 2.5 gpm, which matches the number on the web page itself. However, I think those numbers are wrong. The date on the Delta DSS-Linden-1401 spec sheet is 2012 while the dates on the showehead/trim and handshower spec sheets are both 2017. Therefore I think you can assume that the products you will receive have flow rates of 1.75 gpm.* Manufacturers are reducing the flow rates lower and lower over time, particularly since they want their products to be salable in California.

I have a grohe shower system. I have great water pressure but I think that has to do with my city water psi setting and I also have a 3/4 valve with 3/4 pipes rather than standard 1/2 valve and pipes. I have lots of heads in my shower that can be used all together or alone and the temp is reached within seconds of turning on the water even though it is two floors above the water heater. Not sure, but I think this has to due with the thermostatic valve aswell because my other showers with pressure balance valves take much longer to hit set temps even though they are much closer to the water heater. These showers do still have great water pressure though. I love my grohe shower fixtures and have had no issues in the four years I have had them. my only complaint is I can not ever have a cold shower the water temp can not go below 70degrees. I also like that the temp settings are numeric.